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Terpsichord Welcomes Spring with Much-Anticipated Concert

GPS contemporary dance company showcases works of student and professional choreographers.
 
Friday, March 1, and Saturday, March 2, at 7 p.m., in Frierson Theatre

The Terpsichord Spring Concert takes a look back as well as forward. Appropriately titled 180°, the show begins with an homage to the mother of modern dance, Isadora Duncan (1877-1927), and ends with a modern work of jazz. In between, dances are set to music ranging from Macklemore to the indie folk band Bon Iver.

“The concert title comes from the idea of the show’s opening and closing acts, which are totally different,” says Terpsichord President Carson Thatcher ’19. “We came up with the idea of going half of a circle, or 180 degrees, to something entirely different by the end of the concert.”

This “journey through movement” opens with Iphigenia Suite, a piece originally choreographed by Isadora Duncan in the early 1900s. Guest artist Meg Brooker, an Assistant Professor at Middle Tennessee State University, was responsible for staging the dance.

Brooker has a personal connection to the work as a former dancer for Lori Belilove & Company (NYC), the resident performing troupe of the Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation. She is also the founder of the Isadora Duncan International Symposium and Artistic Director of Duncan Dance South.

Another notable performance is i see you, which was choreographed by Associate Director of Terpsichord Laurel Moore Zahrobsky ’90. Zahrobsky recently performed the piece in Atlanta and is excited to watch her students’ interpretation of it.

“It’s a piece that means a lot to me, and it's been fun to see their growth through it,” she says.

The concert concludes with Sing, a dance choreographed by Terpsichord’s second guest artist, Brittany Johnson-Mills, and set to jazz songs “Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries” and “Sing, Sing, Sing.” Johnson-Mills began her dance training with Ballet Tennessee at age 10, then dancing in New York City for three summers and receiving a full scholarship from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. This year marks her 13th as an instructor and choreographer.

As always, the Terpsichord spring concert will include a piece designed and performed by GPS seniors Kalli Agudo, Maddie Humble, Carson Thatcher, and Vanessa Yates. For Thatcher, this final performance will be bittersweet.

“I am trying my best to make it a celebration of my years in Terpsichord instead of being sad,” she says. “Terpsichord has given me so much. It has allowed me to find my voice as a leader and given me amazing friendships. To say I will miss it is truly an understatement.”
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